Polycistronic mRNAs code for polypeptides of the Vibrio harveyi luminescence system.

DNA coding for the alpha and beta subunits of Vibrio harveyi luciferase, the luxA and luxB genes, and the adjoining chromosomal regions on both sides of these genes (total of 18 kilobase pairs) was cloned into Escherichia coli. Using labeled DNA coding for the alpha subunit as a hybridization probe, we identified a set of polycistronic mRNAs (2.6, 4, 7, and 8 kilobases) by Northern blotting; the most prominent of these was the one 4 kilobases long. This set of mRNAs was induced during the development of bioluminescence in V. harveyi. Furthermore, the same set of mRNAs was synthesized in E. coli by a recombinant plasmid that contained a 12-kilobase pair length of V. harveyi DNA and expressed the genes for the luciferase subunits. A cloned DNA segment corresponding to the major 4-kilobase mRNA coded for the alpha and beta subunits of luciferase, as well as a 32,000-dalton protein upstream from these genes that could be specifically modified by acyl-coenzyme A and is a component of the bioluminescence system. V. harveyi mRNA that was hybridized to and released from cloned DNA encompassing the luxA and luxB genes was translated in vitro. Luciferase alpha and beta subunits and the 32,000-dalton polypeptide were detected among the products, along with 42,000- and 55,000-dalton polypeptides, which are encoded downstream from the lux genes and are thought to be involved in luminescence.